Bottle washer



w. P. BIGELOW BQTTLE WASHER Filed March 13, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR T Vlnl B @6201?) BY QM XLLSLL 7 ATTORNEY Feb. 27, 1940. w. P.BIGELOW BOTTLE WASHER Filed March l5, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q 3 "N 5 0F. 3 3 5 3, u 0 4 1 7 6 1 5 2 3 I 5 6 n v H 8 4 2 o n 5 4 J 1 H M n J 3Feb. 27, 1940. w. P. BIGELOW 2,191,513

' BOTTLE WASHER F'iled March 15, 19:57 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORPatented Feb. 27, 1940.

OFFICE BOTTLE WASHER|- I William 1:. eigatwfisackan', can. ApplicationMarch 13,1937, sen i ive. 130,714

' 2 Claims (011414? This inventionrelates to bottle washing v chines andparticularly to one for washing gal j lon'andhalf-gallon bottles; orjugs as they are more commonly known, such as those in which wine,vine'gar and other products are retailed;

The machine is equally adaptable however with but slight change, fortuseinconnection with ordinary shaped bottles of various kinds. j Themajorobject'o f my invention 'is topmvide 'a machine for? the purpose bymeans of which the bottles or jugs may be washed, sterilized and rinsed,and the labels, if any, thereon soaked ofijin a rapidandvery efficientmanner,

, and without anyllmanual work being necessary other than to feed thebottles 'intothe machine and remove said-bottles therefrom when washed,,My improved washer is also very simple and relatively inexpensive andthere 'is nothing to' get out of order or give trouble.. Also the-machine, though relatively small and compact, is

capable of handling a, large" number of bottles in a given time.

' These objects I accomplish by means of such structure andrelativearrangement of 'parts'a's will fully appear by a perusal of thefollowing specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several viewsz washingchamberorenclosure removed. a

taining and positioning 1 Figure 3is a sectionalelevation on the lin'e33 of Fig. '2.

Figure l is a fragmentary radial section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. a

Figure 5 is alongitudinal section of the re--:

unit and the bottle sup porting spider. r I Referring now moreparticularly'to the char actors of reference on thedrawings, theapparatus comprises a circular casing'having a floor I and'anupstandingcircular wall 2 of'considerably greater depth than that of thebottlesto'be washed. The casing is supported a suitable distance from.the floor on legs 3. 1

An inner endless wall [concentric with the wall 2 and spaced therefrom adistance considerably greater-than the diameter of a bottle, is

supported with its bottom'in spaced relationtto the floor by a spideri.This spider is secured on an axialshaftfi which isnon-turnably mount edin a support Lsecuredin fixed conne'r'ition with the floors A circularflange F substantially the same diameter as the innerwall 4 projectsFigure'l is a front elevationfofthe machine. I Figure 2 .is atopplan'view with'the lids of'the' upwardly from the floor with, awatertight seal, terminating short offthe bottom of thewall 4 for thepurpose which will be seen. The top of the walls? and d are on the samelevel and are provided with inwardly projecting bands 8 form- 1 ledgesfor the support of removable sectional j lids. 9; 1

I 'fAn endless "circular enclosure is thus formed within the casing, andin this enclosure, the I v'va'shing and sterilizing, label soaking andfinal risingfjoperations are performedin the proper sequence as'will nowbe described.

Turnable on thej'sh'aft 6 between the spider 5 and the supportlf'is'another spider 'comprising a plurality of evenlyspaced radial armsIll which project through theband-like. space between the wallYtandflange Filand into the -washing enclosure. At their outer ends the armssupport horizontal discs H-J' each having a central openmg IZ' slightlylarger than the'diameter ofthe .1 j engaging .andcentralizingfingers I5are v mounted on *the' discs; and upstand from aboutthe central openingsin evenly spaced relation,

having an outward'fiare to their upper" ends. Thefiare'orj slope ofthe'fingers is vsuch that in Qthi's'particularmachine, gallon; orhalf-gallon jugs (which are,of'diiferent'diameters) may besupportedw'ith equal efficiency. In both cases,

the mouths of the jugs enterth'e disc openings sothaLtsaid' openings, inconjunction with the fingers, maintain the jugs in the desired vertical.

,A't .thexfrontlof the casing, the' wall' 2 is provided'witharectangular opening iii of suflicient sizeitfoenable a jug to beeasilyplaced on orremoved? from" the above described supporting units.One disc at a time is removably engaged and held in a"'positionconvehie'rittothe opening l6- by an'arcuate saddle l"! having curveddeflection lips l'la; the saddle being mounted orr'ahorizontal stem [8disposed radially of the shaft fi and slidable in a sleeve I9 secured onthe'wall Z'below thecpening. Asprin'gill' acts to yieldably: urgethefsa'ddle against the adjacent peripheralportion of a disc H. Sincethespider upon-whichfall the discs are mounted is a rigid 7 unit, theholding of one disc'also maintains all about thefcircular enclosure, andsinceall said "discs areevenlyspaced, they all in turn occupy identicalstations in' the casing,

Supported from the floor. under the jug sup- "xports and extending.about the "enclosure for a -,portiori of its circumferential extent fromadthe othersat predetermined stationary, positions jacent one end of theopening 16 is a pipe 2|; This is closed at its ends but has need;1e jets22 on the top axially alined with the disc openings 1 12 when the discsare in saidstationary position.

tank, discharging into a removable screen tray 27 supported on the tank.The solution is maintained in a heated condition in the tank' by asuitable circulating heater 28 mounted as a unit with and in closeproximity to the tank. 1

Also connected to the pipe 2| and aisposed'ofi opposite'sides of andspaced from a jug when the latter is in a stationary position on asupport some distance away from the opening 'lfi are vertical pipes 29.These have side jet openings face ing each other to spray the opposite'sides'of the jug and thus effectively washing off any labels on thejug. I

Beyond the pipe 2i there are one or possibly two idle positions of eachjug, so that the soluv tion can drain from the jugs before'they arerinsed. The rinsing of each jug in turn is er-q fected, also mainly whenthe jugs are stationary,

by means of an overhead spray rose 30' and a needle jet 3! alinedwithfand under the c'orre sponding supporting disc H (see Fig. 4). Theseare connected to an ordinarycold-water pressure pipe 32 having a handvalve 33 therein. A drain the correspond--' pipe 35 leads to the sewerfrom ing portion of the floor.

Pairs of flexible vertically disposed rubber curtains 35,which aredeflected byengagemen't with a jugto let the latter pass, extendtoward'each' other from the walls 2 and lat theopposite ends of the jugrinsing station to confine the splashing water. Another pairof similarcurtains'is mounted adjacent the feed-in end of the washing enclosure,just beyond 'the'adj'acent end of opening it, to'prevent possibleoutward splashing of the'sterilizing solution. I

" In operation, with the pump and heater rum ning and with the solutionspraying inwardly into the enclosure from the various jets 22fas well asfrom the spray pipes 29, the operator stands adjacent the opening it andplaces the jugs in turn on the supports, rotating the supporting spiderby hand; Each time the spider is thus ro tated, it is only moved thedistance between the adjacent jug supports (the saddle ll of coursemaking it easy to determine such movement) and,

if any rinsed jugs are in the machine they are removed' as they passfrom behind the adjacent curtains.

As each jug is thus advanced into the washing enclosure'i't, issubjected on the outside to the sprayfrom' the jets 22 during itsmovement between stationary positions, at which. time thejets dischargedirectly into the jugs thoroughly wash-. ing and sterilizing the same.By the time each.

jug reaches the vertical spray pipes 29, its outside is thoroughly wetand any label thereonjsaturated and loosened, so that the forceful sprayfrom said ing removed. As stated, the spider is thus inter mittentlyrotated by hand,the length of the in termissions determiningthethoroughness of the Washing and other operations, such intermissionsbeing utilized by the operator in removing washed jugs and placingothers on the supports for washing. Two or three jugs per minute howeveris the average speed of washing.

The sterilizing solution is used over and over as many times as may befeasible, the screened 1Q,

tray catching any paper, etc. which may be washed off of the jugs, so asto prevent-possible clogging of the pump. When it is desiredfto removeany washed off labels which, have not floated to the drain pipe, it isonlynecessary to remove the lid sections and reach down into the casingfrom above. v t i Y From the foregoing description it will be read- 1 jily seen that I have produced such a. device as 5 substantially"fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth indetail the present and preferredconstructionof the device, still in practice such deviations'fronisuchdetail maybe resortedto as do not formfa departure I from the spirit ofthe invention, as deiined by thef appendedv claims,

Having thus described my "invention, what I claim as new and usefulanddesire to secure by Letters Patent is: H e e l. In a bottlewashingmachine including an.

enclosure forming a washing chamber, said.en{ I closure'having a bottlepassageopeningthere- 1 through, a plurality of spacedbottle supporting.

u'n'its disposed in a row in the washing chamber, meansin the chamber towashb'ottlessupported on said units, means "mountingsaid units for,

movement alongthe chamber, and means to consecutively andreleasablylocate the bottle supporting units in position accessible from saidbottle passage opening; said last named means come prising a discincluded with each bottle support. ing unit, a portion of the peripheryof said discs projecting clear of said mountingvmeans, anda' springp'ressed saddle mounted in connection with the enclosure in the path :ofsaid disc portions and arranged to frictionally and relea'sably 1 engage the same in consecutive order.

2.'In a bottle washing machineincluding-an enclosu'reforming a washingchamber, saidenclosure having a bottle passage opening therethrough, aplurality of spaced bottle supporting means in the chamber towashbottles supported movement along the chamber, and means toconsecutively and releasably locate the bottles upport ing units inposition accessible from said bottle units disposed in a' row in thewashing chamber,-

passage"opening; said last named means com-f prising a disc includedwithe'ach bottle sup-port-.

. ing unit, a portion ofthe periphery-of'said discs projecting clear ofsaid mounting means, a Sadr tile-disposed in thepath ofsaiddisc'portions, the.

saddle having an arcuate face corresponding'tol the peripheral curvatureof-said disc portions, I curved deflection lips extending from theendsofthe saddle to a'point out of the path of movement of said discportions, a Stern on the saddle] and projecting therefrom at rightangles to the axes of'th'e discs a sleeve mounted on the enclopipes 29thenwashes the labels ofi. The J'u sfl u andelidablysupporting. the Stemand WILL AM P. B'IGELOW. 1 51f .i

